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For Immediate Release

Family Event: Zooarchaeology Lab Open House

(Cambridge, September 9, 2010) “Please touch” could be the motto for a family visit to the Zooarchaeology Lab Open House at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

The bones from archaeological digs can reveal what people ate, what animals they hunted, and what animals lived around them. Find out how experts work with archaeologists to identify animal bones from excavations all over the world at the annual Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology Zooarchaeology Lab Open House on Monday, October 11, 2010 (Columbus Day) from noon–4:30 PM.

Peabody Museum zooarchaeologists will demonstrate what the bones reveal using modern animal skeletons. Visitors are encouraged to compare modern animal bones from the Museum’s collection to bones from the prehistoric predecessors of today’s animals. The museum’s collection of over 900 specimens includes a large number of domestic animals like sheep, goats, cattle, horses, dogs, cats, snakes, and turtles. This event is a favorite for children. Bring your own bone to get it identified!

About the Peabody Museum
The Peabody Museum is among the oldest archaeological and ethnographic museums in the world with one of the finest collections of human cultural history found anywhere. It is home to superb materials from Africa, ancient Europe, North America, Mesoamerica, Oceania, and South America in particular. In addition to its archaeological and ethnographic holdings, the Museum’s photographic archives, one of the largest of its kind, hold more than 500,000 historical photographs, dating from the mid-nineteenth century to the present and chronicling anthropology, archaeology, and world culture.

Hours and location: 9 A.M. to 5 P.M., seven days a week. The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. The Peabody Museum is located at 11 Divinity Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Museum is a short walk from the Harvard Square MBTA station. Admission is $9 for adults, $7 for students and seniors, $6 for children, 3–18. Free with Harvard ID or Museum membership. The Museum is free to Massachusetts residents Sundays, 9 A.M. to noon, year round, and Wednesdays from 3 P.M. to 5 P.M. (September to May). Admission includes admission to the Harvard Museum of Natural History. For more information call 617-496-1027 or go online to: www.peabody.harvard.edu.